122 THE GOLDEN AGE OF THK GUPTAS

and in spreading the dharrna of the gentle Buddha wins
the greatest glory.

The India of this age needed such warriors as Samudra-
gupta and Vikramaditya. Not only had the great Scythian
Kanishka conquered the Indian peoples of the north-west,
but Yuetchi and other wild tribes were at hand; and
while this pressure for a time helped in uniting India,
the Guptas were later overwhelmed by an irresistible flood.
Their civili2ation went down, and the Dark Ages closed
in upon India. But there were periods of enlightenment,
such as the reign of Harsha or Thaneswar in the early
seventh century, when art and literature throve; and in
the southern kingdoms there is so much intellectual vigour
that a separate treatment of them is needed.

IV

Meantime from the high vantage-ground of CJuptan
supremacy let us look back, and trace the development of
Indian art and religion from the Golden Age of Asoka
to the Golden Age of the Guptas. Massive statues of pro-
Mauryan India have been succeeded under Greek inspira-
tion by the perfect animal-forms of the Asoknn columns,
than which there is nothing finer anywhere, As I have
said elsewhere1 these are followed by the decorative
panels of great stupas illustrating Jatakas, and expressing
the popular beliefs of the people, It is a folk-art as con-
trasted with the imperial works of Asoka's court artists,
Then come the masterpieces of the Andhra age, such as
the great gateways at Sanchi and the solitary Buddha at
Anuradhapura, Men who have worked in wood or ivory
are showing mastery of intricate design, of perspective and
of the technique of stone-carving* With the deification of
Sakyamuni and of Krishna a new impetus is given to Art
as to Literature. We see the Ikon of Buddha develop from
the Eurasian and provincial figures of the vast majority of
the Gandhara works to the strong and intellectual types of

1 The Heritage of Asia* p, 42,